Multimode optical fiber coupler and fabrication method

Abstract

The present invention relates to a surface interaction type multimode fused optical fiber coupler. A representative embodiment of the present invention comprises a plurality of optical fibers with a section of each of the optical fibers fused together forming a fused section. At least one of the optical fibers is suitable for multimode operations. At least one of the optical fibers comprises a thermally expanded core section. At least a portion of the thermally expanded core section is in the fused section. An example method of fabricating an optical fiber coupler comprises maintaining a section of each of the optical fibers in contact with at least a section of one other optical fiber and simultaneously heating at least a portion of the sections that are in contact to thermally expand the core of at least one of the optical fibers and to form a fused section.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 60/552,813, filed by the present inventors on Mar. 13, 2004, which is incorporated by reference herein.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention generally relates to optical fiber technology. Particularly, this invention relates to a surface interaction type fused multimode optical fiber coupler.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

In the past, multimode optical fibers are employed primarily for short distance or low data rate communications. High data rate communications primarily employ single mode optical fibers. A representative optical fiber has a core surrounded by at least one cladding. When the optical fiber is packaged into an optical fiber cable, it may have a jacket or a coating for protecting the core and the cladding. Because the jacket and the coating are not related to the function of the present invention, they will not be included in the specification. One skilled in the art understands that the jacket or the coating may have to be removed before processing an optical fiber cable. For International Telecommunication Union (ITU) data communication and telecommunication applications, a representative industry standard single mode optical fiber has a core diameter or a mode field diameter in the neighborhood of 9 μm and a cladding outer diameter in the neighborhood of 125 μm, and a representative industry standard multimode mode optical fiber has a core diameter in the neighborhood of 50 μm to 62.5 μm and a cladding outer diameter in the neighborhood of 125 μm. These representative industrial standard optical fibers are made from silica. The ITU industry standard single mode optical fiber is suitable for single mode operations and supports a single propagation mode for light of wavelengths defined by ITU for data communication and telecommunication systems. The industry standard multimode optical fiber is suitable for multimode operations and supports multiple propagation modes for light of wavelengths defined by ITU for data communication and telecommunication systems. Light generally propagates through a multimode optical fiber at different speeds in different propagation modes. Consequently, light disperses over a relatively short distance when propagating in multiple propagation modes through a multimode optical fiber when compared to propagating in a single propagation mode through a single mode optical fiber. One skilled in the art understands that for different wavelengths, optical fiber materials, and applications, the core diameters and the cladding diameters of a single mode optical fiber and a multimode optical fiber may be different from those of the representative ITU industry standard single mode optical fiber and multimode optical fiber.

The costs of multimode optical components and multimode optical communication systems are generally lower than the costs of the corresponding single mode optical components and single mode optical communication systems. Recently, cost concerns have driven up the use of multimode optical components and multimode communication systems in high data rate communication applications in place of single mode optical components and single mode optical communication systems. One of the high volume optical components in optical communication applications is the optical fiber coupler, particularly the fused optical fiber coupler. Technologies for fabricating a high performance single mode fused optical fiber coupler are understood by many skilled in the art. Fabricating a high performance multimode fused optical fiber coupler, which is suitable for demanding communication applications, however, is a challenge.

There are two major types of fused optical fiber couplers, the surface interaction type and the core interaction type. A representative fabrication method of the core interaction type fused optical fiber coupler includes the step of maintaining the ends of a plurality of optical fibers in contact and fusing the ends of optical fibers together. In a core interaction type fused optical fiber coupler, light propagates from a core end of an optical fiber to a core end of another optical fiber through butt coupling. Core interaction type fused optical fiber couplers are not related to the present invention.

The optical fibers in a surface interaction type fused optical fiber coupler primarily couple through the sides of the optical fibers. Selected side surfaces of the optical fibers are placed in close proximity and fused. The present invention relates to a surface interaction type fused optical fiber coupler. A representative conventional surface interaction type multimode optical fiber coupler is the fused biconical taper multimode optical fiber coupler. The fused biconical taper multimode optical fiber coupler is fabricated according to the fused biconical tapering method. A representative fused biconical tapering method comprises the steps of: twisting a section of a first multimode optical fiber with a section of a second multimode optical fiber and setting up to monitor the optical characteristic of the multimode optical fibers; heating at least a portion of the twisted section to form a fused section and tapering the fused section by pulling the two multimode optical fibers from both sides of the fused section to elongate the fused section until a predetermined optical characteristic is obtained or a predetermined end condition is reached. According to the fused biconical tapering method, a high degree of tapering is important to the fabrication of a high performance optical fiber coupler. Tapering promotes the escape of light propagating in the core of an optical fiber to the cladding and the conversion of light propagating in the cladding of an optical fiber to light propagating in the core. As a result of a high degree of tapering, the cross-sectional area of the fused section of a fused biconical taper optical fiber coupler is typically much smaller than the sum of the cross-sectional areas of the optical fibers. The heating is typically accomplished with an oxyhydrogen flame.

FIG. 1 shows the configuration of a representative conventional fused biconical taper multimode optical fiber coupler. Referring to FIG. 1, the representative conventional fused biconical taper multimode optical fiber coupler comprises a first multimode optical fiber 101 and a second multimode optical fiber 102. First multimode optical fiber 101 and second multimode optical fiber 102 share a fused section 103. Section X-X′ is a representative cross-sectional view of first multimode optical fiber 101 and second multimode optical fiber 102. First multimode optical fiber 101 has a first core 111 and a first cladding 112. Second multimode optical fiber 102 has a second core 121 and a second cladding 122. Section Y-Y′ is a representative cross-sectional view of fused section 103. The total cross-sectional area at section X-X′ is the sum of the cross-sectional areas of first multimode optical fiber 101 and second multimode optical fiber 102. The cross-sectional area at section Y-Y′ is the cross-sectional area of fused section 103. The cross-sectional area at section Y-Y′ is much smaller than the total cross-sectional area at sectional X-X′ because of the high degree of tapering of fused section 103 during fabrication. For many representative conventional fused biconical taper multimode optical fiber couplers, the cross-sectional area at section Y-Y′ is typically about ten percent of the total cross-sectional area at sectional X-X′. While test data indicate that fused biconical taper single mode optical fiber couplers enjoy superb performance, test data show that the representative conventional fused biconical taper multimode optical fiber couplers are less than desirable in some demanding applications.

There are numerous technical challenges in fabricating a multimode optical fiber coupler. One of the technical challenges that is unique to fabricating a multimode optical fiber coupler and have no equivalence in fabricating a single mode optical fiber coupler is overcoming mode sensitivity with little added insertion loss. Many multimode optical fiber couplers exhibit mode sensitivity in key optical parameters, including, for example, insertion loss and coupling ratio. Consequently, the optical parameters of a multimode optical fiber coupler may depend on the mode distribution profile of the multimode light source that provides the light propagating in the multimode optical fiber coupler and the launch method for launching light from the multimode light source into the multimode optical fiber coupler. Therefore, mode sensitivity in a multimode optical fiber coupler is undesirable for many applications. An approach for reducing the mode sensitivity of a multimode optical fiber coupler is to over-fuse the fused section and form an over-fused multimode optical fiber coupler. In an over-fused multimode optical fiber coupler, the cores of the optical fibers are very close together or fused together in the over-fused fused section. Unfortunately, the over-fused fused sections of many representative conventional over-fused fused biconical taper multimode optical fiber couplers are highly tapered. Highly tapered fused biconical taper multimode optical fiber couplers are likely to exhibit high insertion loss.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a surface interaction type multimode fused optical fiber coupler. A representative embodiment of the present invention comprises a plurality of optical fibers with a section of each of the optical fibers fused together forming a fused section. At least one of the optical fibers is suitable for multimode operations. At least one of the optical fibers comprises a thermally expanded core section. At least a portion of the thermally expanded core section is in the fused section. An example method of fabricating an optical fiber coupler comprises maintaining a section of each of the optical fibers in contact with at least a section of one other optical fiber and simultaneously heating at least a portion of the sections that are in contact to thermally expand the core of at least one of the optical fibers and to form a fused section until a predetermined end condition is reached.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

A better understanding of the invention may be gained from the consideration of the following detailed descriptions taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 shows the configuration of a conventional multimode optical fiber coupler.

FIG. 2 shows the configuration of an embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

In the description that follows, like parts are indicated throughout the specification and drawings with the same reference numerals. Further, optical fiber coupler refers to surface interaction type fused optical fiber coupler and regular optical fiber refers to optical fiber that has a substantially uniform core diameter unless explicitly stated otherwise. The present invention is not limited to the specific embodiments illustrated herein.

An example embodiment of the present invention employs an expanded core optical fiber in place of a regular multimode optical fiber in a conventional multimode optical fiber coupler. An expanded core optical fiber is an optical fiber that includes at least one expanded core section. In an expanded core optical fiber, the core diameter in the expanded core section is substantially larger than the core diameter of the other sections. There are numerous methods for fabricating an expanded core optical fiber, including, for example, the thermal core expansion method. The thermal core expansion method includes the step of heating an optical fiber section at high temperatures without melting it. In the heated optical fiber section, the dopants in the core thermally diffuse into the cladding and the core diameter increases. An expanded core optical fiber having an expanded core section formed by thermally diffusing the core into the cladding is commonly referred to as a thermally expanded core optical fiber. Thermally expanded core optical fibers are also known as thermally-diffused expanded core optical fibers. Thermally expanded core optical fibers are well understood by one skilled in the art. Optical fibers with thermally expanded cores at fiber ends are commercially available. The time required to significantly expand the core diameter of an optical fiber employing the thermal core expansion method is much longer than the time required to fuse two optical fibers in most cases. An expanded core section may also be created in an optical fiber in the optical fiber manufacturing process.

FIG. 2 shows the configuration of an embodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 2, the embodiment comprises a first multimode optical fiber 101 and a second multimode optical fiber 102. First multimode optical fiber 101 and second multimode optical fiber 102 share a fused section 104. Optionally, fused section 104 is substantially over-fused. Section X-X′ is a cross-sectional view of first multimode optical fiber 101 and second multimode optical fiber 102. First multimode optical fiber 101 has a first core 111 and a first cladding 112. Second multimode optical fiber 102 has a second core 121 and a second cladding 122. At least one of the multimode optical fibers has an expanded core section in fused section 104. The expanded core section extends from and beyond fused section 104 along the multimode optical fiber in at least one direction. At section X-X′, the core diameters of first multimode optical fiber 101 and second multimode optical fiber are not expanded. Section Z-Z′ is a cross-sectional view of fused section 104. The total cross-sectional area at section X-X′ is the sum of the cross-sectional areas of first multimode optical fiber 101 and second multimode optical fiber 102. The cross-sectional area at section Z-Z′ is the cross sectional area of fused section 104. For an example optical fiber coupler according to an embodiment of the present invention that has a 50/50 coupling ratio, the cross-sectional area at section Z-Z′ is typically but is not necessarily in the neighborhood of approximately seventy percent to one hundred percent of the total cross-sectional area at sectional X-X′. In a region of fused section 104, any of a variety of scenarios are possible, including but not limited to: the core of one of the multimode optical fibers expands to the whole of the corresponding cladding; the core of each multimode optical fiber expands to the whole of the corresponding cladding; the core of one of the multimode optical fibers expands to a part of the corresponding cladding; the core of each multimode optical fiber expands to a part of the corresponding cladding, or a selected combination thereof. In some embodiments of the present invention, the cross-sectional area of the core of at least one of the multimode optical fibers at a portion of fused section 104 is larger than the diameter of the non-expanded core of the corresponding multimode optical fiber.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, a method of fabricating a multimode optical fiber coupler comprises: maintaining a first section of first multimode optical fiber 101 in contact with a second section of second multimode optical fiber 102; and heating at least a portion of the sections that are in contact to thermally expand the core of at least one of the multimode optical fibers and to form fused section 104 until a predetermined end condition is reached. Examples of predetermined end conditions include but are not limited to: reaching a predetermined set of optical characteristics; completing a predetermined temperature profile; reaching a predetermined fused section length; reaching a predetermined set of physical characteristics; reaching a predetermined processing time; completing a predetermined process; reaching a predetermined mode sensitivity level; fused section 104 is substantially over-fused; or a selected combination thereof. One skilled in the art understands that heating fused section 104 of a multimode optical fiber coupler over an extended time period may reduce the mode sensitivity level of the multimode optical fiber coupler until the mode sensitivity reaches a saturation level. When the mode sensitivity of a multimode optical fiber coupler is at the saturation level, its fused section 104 is over-fused. After reaching the saturation level, the mode sensitivity of a multimode optical fiber coupler will not substantially decrease with additional heating and elongating of fused region 104.

The heating of optical fibers is accomplished through a high temperature heat source. Examples of high temperature heat sources include but are not limited to an oxyhydrogen flame, a micro electric heater, a laser, and a selected combination thereof. Example methods of maintaining a first section of first multimode optical fiber 101 in contact with a second section of second multimode optical fiber 102 include but not limited to applying tension on the two sides of the fused section of at least one of the multimode optical fibers; vertically stacking the multimode optical fiber sections; laying the multimode optical fiber sections side-by-side; twisting the multimode optical fiber sections together; mounting the multimode optical fiber sections on a fixture designed to force the multimode optical fiber sections to be in contact; mounting the multimode optical fiber sections on a fixture designed to fuse with the multimode optical fiber sections; or a selected combination thereof. The amount of twist in the multimode optical fiber sections may be from a fraction of a degree to many turns.

Optionally, prior to maintaining multimode optical fibers 101 and 102 in contact during fabrication, at least one of the multimode optical fibers may be pretreated. One skilled in the art readily understands pretreatment methods for optical fibers. Examples of pretreatment methods for a multimode optical fiber include but are not limited to: etching; tapering or elongating under high temperatures; mechanical abrasion; and a combination thereof.

Various temperature profiles may be employed to heat the sections of the multimode optical fibers that are kept in contact. Through selecting a temperature profile, the core in a section of a multimode optical fiber may be expanded and may be expanded to the whole cladding in the section. Heating a multimode optical fiber section to temperatures below the fusing temperature of the multimode optical fiber thermally expands the core of the heated section of the multimode optical fiber and increases the core diameter in that heated section. Heating the sections of the multimode optical fibers in contact to temperatures in the neighborhood of and above the fusing temperature fuses the multimode optical fiber sections. Fusing the multimode optical fibers and thermally expanding the cores of the multimode optical fibers may be completed in any order, repeated, interleaved, or a combination thereof. By heating the sections of the multimode optical fibers that are maintained in contact to high temperatures below the fusing temperature for an extended time period and then raising those sections to the fusing temperature, the cores of the section of multimode optical fibers thermally expand before fused region 104 is formed.

Test data of an example embodiment of the present invention show that the loss characteristic of the example embodiment is different from that of a representative conventional fused biconical taper multimode optical fiber coupler such as the one shown in FIG. 1. For example, one of the embodiments of the present invention has significant lower insertion loss than the representative conventional fused biconical taper multimode optical fiber coupler in some demanding multimode optical communication applications. Nevertheless, it is not necessary true that all embodiments of the present invention have lower loss than a representative conventional fused biconical taper multimode optical fiber coupler. Further, it is possible that a selected conventional fused biconical taper multimode optical fiber coupler has lower loss than an embodiment of the present invention. In contrast, test data for single mode optical fiber couplers show different results. There is no significant difference in loss characteristic between a representative conventional fused biconical taper single mode optical fiber coupler and a single mode optical fiber coupler fabricated according to a fabrication method similar to the multimode optical fiber coupler fabrication method according to the present invention in many demanding single mode optical communication applications.

Another example embodiment is a 50/50 over-fused multimode optical fiber coupler that employs the ITU industry standard 50 μm core diameter and 125 μm cladding diameter multimode optical fibers. The example embodiment has lower insertion loss when compared to many representative conventional over-fused fused biconical taper 50/50 multimode optical fiber couplers for used with ITU industry standard multimode optical fibers because the multimode optical fibers of the example embodiment have expanded core sections in fused section 104. The example embodiment requires less tapering of its fused section 104 to over-fuse its fused section 104 when compared to a representative conventional over-fused fused biconical taper 50/50 multimode optical fiber coupler because of the multimode optical fibers of the example embodiment have larger core sizes and thinner claddings in fused section 104 than the regular multimode optical fibers of the representative conventional over-fused fused biconical taper 50/50 multimode optical fiber coupler. Less tapering of fused section 104 of the example embodiment results in lower insertion loss.

There are numerous variations to the embodiments discussed above which will be trivial to the one skilled in the art. Examples of these variations include but are not limited to:

• • At least one of the multimode optical fibers is replaced by a single mode optical fiber;
  • Only one of the optical fibers is a multimode optical fiber;
  • At least one additional optical fiber is fused to fused section 104;
  • All or selected optical fibers may be elongated at fused section 104;
  • Elongation of an optical fiber may be accomplished through applying tension to the optical fiber at high temperatures;
  • The expanded core section of at least one of the optical fibers is completely in fused section 104;
  • The expanded core section of at least one of the optical fibers extends from and beyond fused section 104;
  • An embodiment is adapted to be a MXN multimode optical fiber coupler, where N is an integer of at least two and M is an integer between one and N inclusive;
  • An example method of fabricating a MXN multimode optical fiber coupler is fabricating a N×N optical fiber coupler and then removing the unused optical fiber ends;
  • During fabrication, through controlling for example the temperature profile, a section of the core of at least one of the optical fibers thermally expands and the corresponding core diameter increases by at least approximately ten percent;
  • During fabrication, through controlling for example the temperature profile, a section of the core of at least one of the optical fibers thermally expands and the corresponding core diameter increases by at least approximately ten percent before the forming of fused section 104;
  • During fabrication, through controlling for example both the temperature profile in time and temperature profile in position, the thermally expanded core section and the fused section of an optical fiber such as optical fibers 101 and 102 may be made different;
  • During fabrication, when maintaining sections of optical fibers in contact, a section of an optical fiber may be but is not necessary in contact with only a section of one other optical fiber; and
  • A selected combination or subcombination of the above.

Although the embodiment of the invention has been illustrated and that the form has been described, it is readily apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications may be made therein without departing from the spirit of the invention.

Claims

1. An optical fiber coupler, comprising:

a plurality of optical fibers; and

a fused section formed by fusing a section from each of said optical fibers together;

wherein: each of said optical fibers optically couples with at least one other said optical fiber through said fused section; said optical fiber coupler is suitable for surface interaction type optical coupling between said optical fibers; at least one of said optical fibers is suitable for multimode operations; at least one of said optical fibers comprises a thermally expanded core section; and at least a portion of said thermally expanded core section is in said fused section.

2. The optical fiber coupler as claimed in claim 1, wherein, at least one of said optical fibers comprises a thermally expanded core section extending from and beyond said fused section along said optical fiber in at least one direction.

3. The optical fiber coupler as claimed in claim 2, wherein, each of said optical fibers comprises a thermally expanded core section extending from and beyond said fused section along said optical fiber in two directions.

4. The optical fiber coupler as claimed in claim 1, wherein, the average cross-sectional area of said fused section averaged over said fused section is at least approximately seventy percent of the sum of the cross-sectional areas of all said optical fibers.

5. The optical fiber coupler as claimed in claim 4, wherein, the average cross-sectional area of said fused section averaged over said fused section is at least approximately eighty-five percent of the sum of the cross-sectional areas of all said optical fibers.

6. The optical fiber coupler as claimed in claim 1, wherein, all said optical fibers are suitable for multimode operations.

7. The optical fiber coupler as claimed in claim 1, wherein, said fused section is substantially over-fused.

8. The optical fiber coupler as claimed in claim 7, wherein, at least one of said optical fibers comprises a thermally expanded core section extending from and beyond said fused section along said optical fiber in at least one direction.

9. The optical fiber coupler as claimed in claim 8, wherein, the average cross-sectional area of said fused section averaged over said fused section is at least approximately seventy percent of the sum of the cross-sectional areas of all said optical fibers.

10. The optical fiber coupler as claimed in claim 1, wherein, said optical fiber coupler is suitable to be a M×N multimode optical fiber coupler, where N is an integer of at least two and M is an integer between one and N inclusive.

11. The optical fiber coupler as claimed in claim 1, wherein, a least one of said optical fibers comprises a single mode optical fiber.

12. An optical fiber coupler, comprising:

a first multimode optical fiber having a first section; and

a second multimode optical fiber having a second section fused with said first section forming a fused section;

wherein: said first multimode optical fiber and said second multimode optical fiber optically couple through surface interaction type optical coupling in said fused section; at least one of said multimode optical fibers comprises a thermally expanded core section; and at least a portion of said thermally expanded core section is in said fused section.

13. The optical fiber coupler as claimed in claim 12, wherein, at least one of said multimode optical fibers comprises a thermally expanded core section extending from and beyond said fused section along said multimode optical fiber in at least one direction.

14. The optical fiber coupler as claimed in claim 12, wherein, the average cross-sectional area of said fused section averaged over said fused section is at least approximately seventy percent of the sum of the cross-sectional areas of all said multimode optical fibers.

15. The optical fiber coupler as claimed in claim 14, wherein, the average cross-sectional area of said fused section averaged over said fused section is at least approximately eighty percent of the sum of the cross-sectional areas of all said multimode optical fibers.

16. The optical fiber coupler as claimed in claim 12, wherein, said fused section is substantially over-fused.

17. The optical fiber coupler as claimed in claim 12, further comprises, at least a third multimode optical fiber having a section fused with said fused section and optically coupling with said fused section.

18. A method of fabricating an optical fiber coupler, comprising:

providing a plurality of optical fibers with at least one of said optical fibers being suitable for multimode operations; and

maintaining a section of each of said optical fibers in contact and simultaneously heating at least a portion of said sections that are in contact to thermally expand the core of at least a section of at least one of said optical fibers substantially and to form a fused section until a predetermined end condition is reached so that at least a portion of the thermally expanded core section of at least one of said optical fibers is in said fused section.

19. The method of fabricating an optical fiber coupler as claimed in claim 18, wherein, a section of the core of at least one of said optical fibers extending from and beyond said fused section along said optical fiber in at least one direction thermally expands during said heating.

20. The method of fabricating an optical fiber coupler as claimed in claim 19, wherein, a section of the core of each of said optical fibers extending from and beyond said fused section along said optical fiber in two directions thermally expands during said heating.

21. The method of fabricating an optical fiber coupler as claimed in claim 18, wherein, a section of the core of at least one of said optical fibers extending from and beyond said fused section along said optical fiber in at least one direction thermally expands before forming said fused section during said heating.

22. The method of fabricating an optical fiber coupler as claimed in claim 18, further comprising, elongating at least one of said optical fibers while forming said fused section.

23. The method of fabricating an optical fiber coupler as claimed in claim 22, wherein, said heating terminates before the average cross-sectional area of said fused section averaged over said fused section becomes below approximately seventy percent of the sum of the cross-sectional areas of all said optical fibers.

24. The method of fabricating an optical fiber coupler as claimed in claim 23, wherein, said heating terminates before the average cross-sectional area of said fused section averaged over said fused section becomes below approximately eighty percent of the sum of the cross-sectional areas of all said optical fibers.

25. The method of fabricating an optical fiber coupler as claimed in claim 18, wherein, said heating terminates after a condition selected from a set of conditions consisting of: said optical fiber coupler substantially reaches a predetermined set of optical characteristics, said fused section is substantially over-fused, said heating substantially completes a predetermined temperature profile, said optical fiber coupler substantially reaches a predetermined set of physical characteristics, and said fused section substantially reaches a predetermined length.

26. The method of fabricating an optical fiber coupler as claimed in claim 18, further comprising:

pretreating a section of at least one of said optical fibers before said maintaining said section of each of said plurality of optical fibers;

wherein: at least a region of the pretreated section is in said fused section.

27. The method of fabricating an optical fiber coupler as claimed in claim 26, wherein, the method of pretreating a section of an optical fiber comprises a method selected from a set of methods consisting of: chemical etching, mechanical abrasion, and elongation under high temperatures.

28. The method of fabricating an optical fiber coupler as claimed in claim 18, wherein, the method of maintaining said sections of said optical fibers in contact comprises a method selected from a set of methods consisting of: applying tension to at least one of said optical fibers from the two sides of said fused section, vertically stacking said sections that are in contact, laying said sections that are in contact side-by-side, twisting said sections that are in contact together, and forcing said sections that are in contact together with a fixture.

29. The method of fabricating an optical fiber coupler as claimed in claim 18, wherein, said optical fiber coupler is suitable to be a M×N multimode optical fiber coupler, where N is an integer of at least two and M is an integer between one and N inclusive.

30. A method of fabricating an optical fiber coupler, comprising:

providing a first multimode optical fiber and a second multimode optical fiber; and

maintaining a first section of said first multimode optical fiber and a second section of said second multimode optical fiber in contact and simultaneously heating at least a portion of said sections to thermally expand the core of at least a section of at least one of said multimode optical fibers substantially until a fused section is formed between said sections and a predetermined end condition is reached so that at least a portion of the thermally expanded core section of at least one of said multimode optical fibers is in said fused section.

31. The method of fabricating an optical fiber coupler as claimed in claim 30, wherein, at least one of said multimode optical fibers is elongated while forming said fused section.

32. The method of fabricating an optical fiber coupler as claimed in claim 31, wherein, a section of the core of at least one of said multimode optical fibers extending from and beyond said fused section along said multimode optical fiber in at least one direction thermally expands during said heating.

33. The method of fabricating an optical fiber coupler as claimed in claim 31, wherein, a section of the core of at least one of said multimode optical fibers extending from and beyond said fused section along said multimode optical fiber in at least one direction thermally expands before forming said fused section during said heating.

34. The method of fabricating an optical fiber coupler as claimed in claim 32, wherein, said heating terminates before the average cross-sectional area of said fused section averaged over said fused section becomes below approximately seventy percent of the sum of the cross-sectional areas of all said multimode optical fibers.

35. The method of fabricating an optical fiber coupler as claimed in claim 30 wherein, said heating terminates after said fused section is substantially over-fused.

36. The method of fabricating an optical fiber coupler as claimed in claim 30 further comprising, maintaining a third section of a third multimode optical fiber and said first sections and said second section in contact and simultaneously heating at least a portion of said sections until a fused section is formed between said sections and said predetermined end condition is reached.